


die Kinder und die Waldhexe [The Children and the Forest Witch]

by StarllingWrites



Series: Crit Role Narrative Telephone Poems [4]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Found Family, Iambic Pentameter, Pining, background jester x caleb, bonus story, narrative telephone, poem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 08:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24467890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarllingWrites/pseuds/StarllingWrites
Summary: Based on Liam's story from the Narrative Telephone stream on 05/28/2020Contains: fantasy depictions of children being partially eaten (but not killed). If you've seen the NT episode, you know what to expect.Also contains a bonus short story! The Mighty Nein gathers in one of the rooms they rented at a tavern to share stories. Caleb shares his, bringing a dark mood to the evening. But his friends are there to help bring back their cheer.
Series: Crit Role Narrative Telephone Poems [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1744534
Comments: 5
Kudos: 42





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I did my best to write in iambic pentameter since Liam is a theater/Shakespeare nerd. I'm not used to writing in this format so it's not perfect, but it's good enough for me. Also, here's the translation for all the German used in the poem:
> 
> die Kinder und die Waldhexe - the children and the forest witch  
> wildnis - wilderness  
> Angst - fear

The wise know this tale, beyond any doubt,  
Is grizzly fact, not just to caution youth.  
So hear _die Kinder und die Waldhexe  
_To uncover this—the kingdom’s old truth.

  
Three children once graced in Dawnfather’s light,  
With parents’ pride, they knew nothing save love.  
But children are young; foolishly they strayed  
Into the _wildnis_ despite warnings told.  
The deeper they walked, darkness more encroached.  
Their hands, they clasped, counting their steps onward—  
Further and further straying from the light.  
And then whispers reveal a crone of old.

  
They froze in _Angst_ as she pulled a stone knife.  
“I am the land and hunger for your flesh.”  
The children cried, afraid of what’s to come.  
She ate a piece from each instead of just one:  
The first she ate his brain—his will to think.  
The next she ate her eye—her sight for truth.  
From the last she ate his entire heart—  
With it his knowledge to love and be loved.  
  


“The land will flourish, fed now by your blood.  
Return home; send your children in years to come.”  
For generations, repeating her feast,  
Till this day, _Waldhexe_ claims one by one.


	2. Shared Pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After hearing Liam's story is indeed a metaphor for Bren/Caleb, Astrid and Edowulf—and considering the format of Narrative Telephone—I thought of this scene of the MN gathered around one evening, telling tales to each other, and Caleb shared that story with the group. Ended up being a lot longer than I thought, but eh, go figure, I’m a writer lol

The rest of the Nein stared at Caleb with varying degrees of shock and dismay. His story was a splash of cold water compared to the tales the others had shared so far. It wasn’t like they were caught completely off-guard by it, though. They knew their friend had a dark past—some enough to question the deeper meanings this story might have.

“That’s uh…” Beau started as she searched for the right words. “That’s quite a spooky story there, Caleb.”

“It’s so _sad_!” Jester cried—literally, with tears running down her face. Her hands clutched to her chest as she looked at Caleb with large, sorrowful eyes. “Those poor kids. They can’t think for themselves, or see the truth, or _love!_ I just… I wish the story had a happier end, you know? Not that your story was bad, Caleb—you’re _really good_ at telling stories. It was just… _really depressing_.”

She wiped the tears away, her hands staying on her face squishing her cheeks. Frumpkin hopped off Caleb’s shoulder and walked up to her. Smiling, she picked the sweet cat up into her lap. It was calming to pet him. Then Jester went off on another ramble, “I just prefer stories that end happily. Like sure, cake is fine on its own. But it’s so much better with frosting, right? And, like a good story, it’s even better if you share it with friends—I mean, _yeah_ , you don’t get as much cake for yourself, but it’s still good. And they’re there with you. And they probably enjoy it more too because of _course_ it’s better than _not_ having any cake at all.”

“At first I didn’t wanna eat anything after that story. But now I kinda want some cake,” Beau admitted.

Jester grabbed Frumpkin’s from paws and made him do a little dance. “Mean, old vortex eating body parts from children,” she grumbled then giggled. “That's just so gross, right?”

“ _Waldhexe_ ,” Caleb corrected. “A forest witch.”

“Ohh… That makes more sense,” Beau said. Apparently more than one of his friends misunderstood his Zemnian.

“She should’ve just eaten the kids entirely,” Nott chimed in, not minding the language lesson. “So much good meat wasted by letting them live.”

Jester scrunched her nose at her friend. “Oh my gods, Nott. You make it sound like you’ve eaten children before.”

“I have,” she deadpanned.

Jester’s eyes went impossibly wide. Fjord and Beau exchanged glances, wordlessly asking each other if they thought she was lying or not. Yasha asked, “Have you really eaten a child?”

“Of course not,” Nott immediately defended, all sarcasm now gone. She took a quick swig from her flask. “I just wanted to mess with you. You know—lighten the mood a bit and tell a joke.”

“About eating children…?”

The silence was deafening.

Caduceus broke it, standing up as he said, “Let’s take a snack break.”

“Yes,” Fjord agreed. “Snacks.” The two of them left the room and went to tavern’s ground floor to order food.

Gradually the rest of them got up, stretched, and left. Save for Caleb. He sat in his spot staring into the middle distance, unmoving. Frumpkin jumped back up on his shoulder but he didn’t react beyond reflexively scratching the cat’s chin.

Jester noticed the wizard’s absence as she, Nott and Yasha started down the stairs. She told the other ladies to go on ahead, then returned to the room. She didn’t say anything as she entered, nor when she plopped down next to Caleb on the floor. He didn’t acknowledge her. Jester didn’t mind, though. She occupied herself with looking around the simple bedroom, as plain as every other tavern they had stayed at; she traced the embroidery on her dress; she took a pumpkin seed from her pouch and fed it to Sprinkle.

“So I was thinking,” she spoke up. “What if… the kids found someone later on who was like, _Oh, it’s okay if you’re missing your heart or whatever; you can have a bit of mine_. You know, like my cake story. And just—more and more friends helped share a bit of themselves until the kids had enough to replace what the witch ate and they were better again.”

Caleb finally looked at her. As he studied her, as her words sunk in, he could feel a piece of himself chip away from her warmth. “That’s a beautiful thought, Jester,” Caleb said softly. “Perhaps the ending will be rewritten like that one day.”

It was a shame this sweet moment was cut short by a Message from Nott to Jester.

Jester slammed her hands on the floor in front of her and angrily replied, “Don’t you _dare_ eat all the cake without me!” Fueled by her need for sweets, she jumped to her feet, grabbed Caleb by the arm and hauled him up as well. Frumpkin vanished, not enjoying the sudden movement. “Come on! We gotta get down there before Nott eats all the cake on us.”

He let himself be dragged off by her. They were such an energetic bunch, his friends—his found family, he tentatively called them. He could hear them laughing and swearing all the way from the top of the stairs. “ _Und vielleicht hat der Junge doch ein bisschen Herz gefunden_ ,” Caleb said to himself. The subtlest of smiles tugged his lips as he joined the rest of the Mighty Nein.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> German - “Und vielleicht hat der Junge doch ein bisschen Herz gefunden.” 
> 
> English - “And perhaps the boy found a bit of heart again after all.”


End file.
